​Cheese Scones

My family love these scones especially my husband, they are very quick and easy to make so if you need to they can be made in 25 minutes and ready to serve. You may use any hard cheese of your choice but living in Somerset I use Cheddar cheese. This recipe uses strong bread making flour so as the scones bake they keep their shape and rise well.​This is a good recipe to double up on and make a batch for work or for a fund raiser.

You will need a baking sheet lightly greased, or you can use a silicon mat on the baking sheet.A 6-7cm, 2inch round cutterSet the oven for 200C fan, 220C conventionalPlace the baking sheet in the oven to heat up whilst you make the scones.

Ingredients

500g strong bread flour plus a little extra for rolling out

50g baking powder*

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2-4 teaspoons of English mustard powder( once you have made your first lot of these scones you can adjust the quantities of mustard to suit your own taste)

100g unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons of soft brown sugar

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100g hard cheese, grated ​

50g Parmesan cheese grated

10 fluid oz whole milk ( 1/2 pint)

10 fluid oz plain yogurt ( 1/2 pint)

2 eggs

MethodSift the flour, mustard, cayenne,salt and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the brown sugar.Cut the butter into small pieces and toss into the flour mixtureWith your finger tips rub in the butter until it disappears.

Combine the cheeses keep back about 40g to top the scones.In a separate bowl beat the two eggs add the yoghurt and milk and beat until combined.

Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour 2/3 of the egg mixture into the well, using a knife combine the flour and liquid to make a soft dough, add more liquid as necessary.With your hand knead the dough in the bowl for a few turns to make of ball.Lightly flour work surface place and knead the dough for a further few turns to give a smooth surface.Roll out to about 3 cm thick ( half an inch).Dip the cutter into a little flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough.Cut out circles of dough making sure you press the cutter straight down to ensure an evenly cut scone, re flour the cutter as needed.

Re form the dough to cut more scones, you will have a small amount of dough left so turn it into a ball and make it your “taster scone”.Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and place the scones on the sheet placing them a little apart, quickly place a little cheese on each scone and place the tray back in the oven.Bake for 15-20 minutes, the scones should be well risen, golden and the bottoms also golden .I always break a scone open to see if the dough is baked and not damp, if there is dampness I let the scones bake for a further 3 minutes.Remove the scones from the oven and place on a cooling rack. The scones can be served hot, split and spread with butter.The scones when cool can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days and can be reheated in a warm oven to soften them before eating.I often freeze a batch of scones fo unexpected visitors, once defrosted they can be placed in the oven and warmed before serving.

*if you live in a place where you can’t buy baking powder then you can make your own in the following wayCombine 1/2 teaspoon of cream of Tatar with 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

This provides the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of baking powder sufficient to use with 110g plain flour.